1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heater to heat, from a rear surface in forming a film onto, for example, a semiconductor wafer, and relates to semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, with miniaturizing semiconductor manufacturing equipment, high film-forming uniformity in its manufacturing process has been required. A rear surface heating system used for chemical vapor deposition (CVD) device such as an epitaxial growth device, having no heating source above a wafer, and enabling a reaction gas to flow in a vertical direction, can form a uniform film.
In such a rear surface heating system, a resistance heating heater being used as the heating source, the heater must be stable in high temperature (above 1300° C. at a heater temperature), and also must be highly-pure (heating with fewer pollutants). Therefore, for instance, a SiC material etc. is used as a heater element material in order to be stable and not to cause low metal-staining in high temperatures.
A heater element like this, as described in [0019] and FIG. 10 of Jpn. Pat. Appln. Publication No. 10-208855, is fixed to a heater support body 18 with bolts. However, it presents problems such that a connection surface at a fixed position adjacent to the heater element to be heated in high temperatures cause surface roughness due to variations in heat or gas and increases connection resistance.
For instance, if there are deviations in the height and position of the heater support body 18, and in the dimensions of a heater, using a hard material with low flexibility, such as a SiC material, poses the problems that it is difficult to correct the deviations, and it is impossible to surely fix the heater. In addition, failures are generated, such as a bad electrical contact between heater and electrode, heating and thermal degradation due to electric field concentration at a connection part, or damage of a heater caused by thermal stresses.